Secret Princess

1. The Beginning

Dear Diary,
February 24, 2014

'I can't believe it's 1 month till my Sweet 16. Gees, time sure does fly fast. I hope I get a car for my birthday. I already have my permit, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed on a car. Well, things have been pretty normal around here, it's the middle of the school year and things are going great. My least favorite class this year is my Italian foreign language class.

I'm 100% Italian, and yet I'm clueless when it comes to speaking Italian at school. And here at home, forget it. My parents speak it all the time and I can't even comprehend what they say.'

"Katerina, sbrigati. Oppure sarete in ritardo per la scuola." Mom yells from downstairs. I close my diary and put it back in my pillow case. Mom tells me this every morning. 'Katerina, hurry up. Or you'll be late for school.' That's pretty much the only Italian phrase I know.

"Siate destra verso il basso, Mamma." 'Be right down, Mom.' I try to say--- knowing that I butchered most of that phrase--- as I grab my backpack and open my door and head downstairs.

"How many times have we asked you to practice your Italian?" Mom asks as I come down the stairs.

"More times than I can count." I say as I step off of the final step.

"You really should practice more, what if you need to use it someday?"

"When would I ever have to speak Italian? It's not like I'm ever going to go to Italy." I say looking at Mom questioningly.

"Never mind what I said Katerina. Just go get in the car." Mom said brushing off the conversation as though it was nothing.

"Okay, then." I said walking out the front door and to the car. I stand next to the car and wait for mom to come outside. Once she does, she stares at me questioningly.

"I thought I told you to get in the car, not stand outside it." She says a bit irritated.

"You did. But I was wondering if I could drive to school?" I ask looking down at the ground.

Mom stands by the driver side door and looks at me for a minute, and then shakes her head.

"Not today, Katerina." she says and opens the driver side door and gets into the car.

"But, Mom." I say not making an effort to get in the car.

"Non discutere con me. Do not argue with me, Katerina. Now get in the car."

"Fine." I say irritated, as I open the passenger door and get in the car.

Mom and I don't say anything as she is driving me to school. Both of us a bit irritated at the other to say anything.

"I just don't see why you won't let me drive to school once." I say staring out the window, breaking the long stretch of uncomfortable silence.

"You're just not ready for that yet." She simply says.

"Not ready for it?" I say questioningly.

"I've logged nearly all of my driving hours and yet you still won't let me drive." I say raising my voice.

"I told you already, Katerina. You're not ready." She says again.

"I'm not ready, or you're just not ready to let me go and let me have some responsibility?" I ask accidentally thinking out loud.

"You had better watch your tone with me young lady, or you will find yourself grounded for a month." Mom threatens.

"I'm old enough to start having responsibility, for myself." I murmur to myself.

"That's it young lady, your grounded." Mom says angry now.

"What? That's not fair. I didn't even do anything." I say furious now.

"It doesn't matter what you didn't do, and life isn't fair. Now get out." Mom says putting the car in park.

I undo my seat belt, open the door, get out of the car, and grab my backpack from the floor, and slam the car door. I walk up towards the school and then pause for a second. I turn around and see Mom driving away a bit faster than she normally does.

I turn back around and stare at one of the many things I wish I didn't have to endure.

High School.

I groan and walk up to the one place I'd rather not be at the moment. My mood turns from furious to calm when I see my best friend Marissa.

Marissa is 5'8", dark Red hair, baby Blue eyes, tan-ish skin, and an average build. Both Marissa and I think that we are secretly sisters and somehow we were separated at birth. We think this, because we both like the same things.

We both like the color Purple, our favorite sport is Volleyball, favorite romantic movie is The Notebook, and extra cheesy mac and cheese is our go to "guilty pleasure." And, we have the same birthday, except Marissa is a year older.

"Hey Katty, what's up?" Marissa asks smiling at me.

"Oh, nothing. Just got into a fight with my Mom." I say and Marissa looks at me confused like I just spoke a different language.

"What do you mean you and your mom got into a fight?" She asks a bit stunned.

"I asked her if I could drive to school, and then she got all defensive, and told me that I wasn't ready to drive. Then I kind of mouthed off to her and she grounded me after that." I confess.

Marissa just stands in front of me dumbfounded at what I had just said.

"Seriously? She grounded you just because you mouthed off to her about not being able to drive. That is crazy." Marissa says.

"Yeah, she's been acting a bit strange lately." I say as Marissa and I walk into school.

"What do you mean by strange?" Marissa asks as we walked toward our first class.

"More protective than usual. I mean, it's like every little thing I want to do, or actually do do, she gets all protective and defensive about it." I tell her as we enter our Creative Writing class.

The rest of the of the day flew by in a blur. The next thing I knew, it was time for Italian class.

"Ugh." I groan as I stop outside the classroom.

"Come on, Kat. Its not that bad, you'll survive the next hour." Marissa says as she grabs my arm and pulls me into class.

"Ugh." I groan again, and prepare myself for an hour of Hell.